Aftermath of the Second War
by The Sword Of Magus 90 ITA
Summary: Harry, finally free from the Prophecy, sees his girl with another! How will he go on? Will there be someone else for him, especially in the dark times after the war? Starts HP/GW and RW/HrG, but pairings change! Changed genre and summary, sorry for that!
1. Chapter 1

**Aftermath****of**** the war**

**A/N: Harry Potter is not mine. If I were J.K. , the last two books would be very different, trust me.**

**First story by me! I hope you enjoy it, and NO FLAMES, please! I don't need you to R&R, but nonetheless I hope you will!**

**Now, on with the story!**

**Prologue: Breaking hearts**

When Voldemort finally went down, dead, Harry was, to say the least, shocked. 'All is over now, I can't believe it…' After all the casualties of that war, was everything finally over? After a few seconds, which looked like hours to him, someone started cheering for his victory, soon followed by everyone around the two figures in the middle. Harry tried to escape before being surrounded by the cheering, and he managed… For a short while anyway.

Because, when all the people in the Great Hall saw their savior trying to escape, they brought him back inside. 'Great' thought Harry rolling his eyes. 'Now I'm never going to find Ginny' Ginny. His heart soared thinking of her, the girl, no, almost woman, who had his heart from last year. Nobody believed too much in that relationship, but hey, even if he's the Boy-Who-Lived, that doesn't mean every part of his life is to be guided by someone or something, right?

Scanning all the faces around him, he couldn't immediately see any of the people who helped him out in that long night. After a few moments, he saw Ron and Hermione were in a corner of the Hall, probably discussing what their first kiss meant to their relationship now. Harry couldn't be happier for them; he was glad they managed to come around about each other, after all they've been through during that nightmarish year passed hunting the Horcruxes. But he noticed something weird about his unlikely ally for that night, Draco Malfoy; he was looking at them with a sorrowful expression, that made Harry wonder: 'Why? It's all over now, isn't it? So why is Draco looking at… Wait! Could it be…?' Avoiding the happy mob, he went to where Draco sat, and joined him while the others started a party for the victory.

"Draco, you never told me why you switched sides…" Harry knew his parents were killed by the Dark Lord because they tried to betray, but that wasn't the only reason, and Harry wanted to get to the bottom of it. Draco barely acknowledged him, still staring to his two best friends. "Has any of your actions something to do with a bushy-haired witch we both know and whom you're staring at so much?" At that, Draco turned to him so fast that Harry thought his neck snapped. "Potter! I'm not staring at anyone! Let alone that… That…" Not knowing what to say, the blonde Slytherin fell silent again.

Harry rolled his eyes at the other boy's attitude. "Yeah, sure, and I'm the next in line as a Dark Lord." Draco stopped him with a smirk. "Good luck with trying, I would be better than you, Scar-Head!" Harry, smirking back, replied: "Ok, you're on, Ferret Boy!" but then he became serious again: "Seriously, Draco, how long?" Knowing what was asked, Draco replied: "From third year, is it too weird? With me being addressed as some pureblood racist?" Harry, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, shook his head. "Nah, you can't force your heart to like or love someone above someone else, trust me; but now she's off limits, mate, maybe you'd better move on and forget her!" Harry felt sorry for saying this, but he knew Hermione loved Ron, so giving Malfoy false hope was not an option.

Draco's eyes were shining with unshed tears after hearing that, making Harry loathe himself. "You know, the worst part of what you said is the fact that it's true, but I can't allow myself to believe it! When I joined that bastard, I thought he was going to win! And then, she could've been mine, one way or the other! But when I failed to kill Dumbledore, He refused to Mark me, and used me as some house elf! And then, when my father called him saying you were in his hands, but you escaped, he also killed him! And now my mother is wound at St. Mungo, just because of this stupid war! And I don't know if or when she'll wake up! And now I've also lost the woman I love!" At this point, Draco was freely crying, with Harry trying to comfort him, obviously without success. "Potter, please… Leave me alone, ok?" And with this he ran away from the Great Hall, with Harry looking at his retreating figure with sadness.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder, belonging to his best male friend Ron. "Harry, what was that? I've never seen the ferret crying…" Harry remained silent about Draco, asking instead: "Nothing, Ron, don't worry! By the way, have you seen Ginny?" Ron, blinking stupidly, said: "I was about to ask you the same, mate! Where the hell is she… Oh, there she is, with Neville!" He pointed somewhere in the Great Hall, and Harry, following his pointing finger, found that Ginny was indeed with Neville. "Come on, let's go to her!" Harry said, with Ron and Hermione who joined him in his tail. But when he got nearer the two, the dark-haired boy felt that something was wrong with the picture of the two. Ginny was holding both hands of an injured Neville looking at him with happiness, meanwhile receiving the same look from him. Before he could speak to them, though, Neville brought down Ginny and kissed her soundly.

That vision sent Harry in a nightmare. Seeing that kiss, every dream Harry had with Ginny was shattered in front of his eyes, and his heart was gradually shutting down. All this continued even when Ron, seeing the very same scene, yelled: "Hey! What the hell are you two doing!" and was about to launch himself against Neville who broke the kiss when hearing that yell, when Hermione stopped him: "Ron, calm down! That's not the major problem here!" she said, pointing at Harry, who was broken before their very own eyes. Ginny, getting up at Ron's yelling, saw Harry and paled. "Harry, I'm sorry, that wasn't the way I wanted you to know! Please, wait, let me explain!" But Harry was already running away halfway her pleading, the scene replaying in his mind over and over.

He ran, ran, ran, asking himself the reason of that scene over and over, until, out of breath, he stopped on the edge of the Great Lake, and sat under a tree. 'It doesn't matter how' he thought under that tree 'I have lost her, and that's it… Now I know how Malfoy was feeling' And with that, he started to cry, and yelled desperate help pleas until his voice could no longer be heard because of his throat ache, but he continued crying until he could no longer keep his eyes open and fell asleep under that tree, unaware that someone was watching him from the shadows.

**A/N: Before someone asks, no, I'm not against the canon, but yes, I'm against the epilogue. Seriously (or Siriusly? Lol), Harry with Ginny? What was J.K. thinking? Well, it doesn't matter anymore now, does it? I have a few pairings in mind for this story, a bit off canon but hey, I'm someone who hates canon half the time, and not just for Harry Potter, trust me xD if you can, read and review, but I won't force you, obviously!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Aftermath of the war**

**A/N: Harry Potter is not mine. If I were J.K. , the last two books would be very different, trust me.**

**For the reviewers, here are my answers:**

**Naginator, you're right, but I will explain later in the story the reasons behind this pairing!**

**Elia950, lo so bene, amico, è dura dover vedere le stupidaggini che combina la J.K.! E non solo lei, tra l'altro! Comunque piacere, Marco xD**

**JNottle, ****sorry****, ****but****this****time I chose Daphne, I really don't feel inspired by Astoria xD**

**MasterBrattan, of course so many people are against it! I'll write MY ideas about this weird canon at the end of the story xD**

**Now, on with the story! **

**Chapter 1: A light in a living nightmare**

_Harry was in a nightmare. He found himself in the graveyard where he saw Voldemort return from the dead, and he was reliving that night all over again. Only this time, there were a few differences._

_First, the potion in the cauldron from which Voldemort rose wasn't brewed by Wormtail, but by his beloved Ginny. And second, when he rose and started his taunting against Harry, something was off in his words, because he heard the Snake taunt him in a different, but nonetheless crushing way:_

"_HA! Look at you, Potter! You killed me, fine, but was it really worth? Now what remained for you to be happy about? Your best friends are now a couple, they'll left you behind, and the girl you love doesn't love you anymore! The last living link to your father died tonight, leaving behind his wife, his son Teddy and you! And now you're going to be UTTERLY and COMPLETELY alone! Maybe I'm dead, but in the end it was ME that won! Because now, thanks to me, you lost EVERYTHING!"_

_Harry was crying freely upon hearing this, because he knew the Snake was right. He had won, but that Pyrrhic victory was nothing to Harry now, and Voldemort started to laugh. A maniacal laugh, that sent shivers up his spine, and behind that laugh, too many voices started screaming things like "You're gonna be ALONE!" or "You lost EVERYTHING!" and Ginny that, behind Voldemort, looked at him with… 'Pity? in her eyes, the only feeling for him was pity?' Harry couldn't believe it…_

_And then, everything went blurry around him._

_

* * *

_

Harry awoke screaming, only to find himself in a bed. Looking around, the place seemed familiar, but everything was blurry, so Harry deduced his glasses weren't on his nose. He searched around the bed, found them and put them on.

'The Hospital Wing… Figures.' With all the times he ended there because of his "adventures", he was surprised with himself that he did not know the place like his pockets. He also found out with surprise that he wasn't alone. There was a figure, asleep in a chair near the bed, a girl, judging by the looks. What surprised Harry the most, though, was the crest on the girl's uniform; the Slytherin crest.

'That's weird…' he thought, and then the night before came to his mind, bringing him a headache and a soreness in his heart. 'Ginny… Why?' he asked to himself, while new tears made their way to his eyes, and he started shaking with sobs.

The sudden shaking brought the girl back from Dreamland, and she looked around her, a bit startled. Then, as she saw Harry crying, she suddenly engulfed him in a hug, which Harry accepted out of despair, without thinking.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, which looked like hours to Harry, and he cried until he had no more tears. Still sobbing, his mind registered the position, and he separated himself from the hug. "Who are you? Why are we here?" Harry asked, with a hint of rage, and the girl, whose face showed kindness for him just a moment ago, fell into a stone mask with no emotion, before she answered him with a glare: "As much comfortable as you could have been sleeping under that tree, you really didn't wish to sleep near the Forbidden Forest, did you, Potter?" In normal circumstances Harry would have considered that act just some crazy dare from the muggle game Truth or Dare, but at that moment he really didn't care, so he didn't answer. At the silence that followed her question, she looked at him like he was completely mental. "Are you kidding me? And I that thought Gryffindors weren't really THAT stupid…" she said, trying to tease him, with the only reply being total silence, aside from their breathing. "By the way, my name's Daphne, Daphne Greengrass" She said out of the blue, trying to snap him out of it. With no success, of course.

Now, Daphne was no idiot. She knew why Harry was like this. Hell, whoever was in the Great Hall when Harry won against the Dark Lord knew. Actually, she wanted to hex the Weasley girl for doing this to their -her- savior, but she certainly could wait, because Harry chose that moment to ran out of the Hall, and she decided to follow him at a distance. When she found him under that tree, crying his heart out, she wanted nothing more than to hug him and protect him from everything out of gratitude, but her courage failed her. She wasn't a Gryffindor, for crying out loud! But when he fell asleep, she decided to levitate him to the Hospital Wing, only to find it empty because everyone was in the Great Hall. 'Perfect' she thought 'At least Harry will be alone for a bit.' She had levitated him to the most hidden bed, and after that, she sat near him, ready to help him if needed.

And right now, Harry needed all the help he could get; she was sure of it.

Only problem: he didn't even acknowledge her.

She sighed loudly. "So much for Gryffindor courage, Potter… You can't even move on from a stupid heartbreak…"

At that, Harry snapped. "It's not a STUPID heartbreak! Have you got any idea about how I feel? Like my heart has been ripped out…" But he was surprised when she looked down and stopped him, continuing his speech. "… Like they spat out on it, like they feed their dogs with it, without considering your feelings, treating you like trash… I know how it feels, Potter, trust me." When she looked up, Harry saw her eyes were glistening with tears. Harry suddenly felt like an idiot. "Sorry, I was a bit selfish there, sorry, sorry..." And he hugged her, this time. She returned the hug, a bit surprised. When they separated from crying over each other's shoulder, Harry looked at her and asked: "So, Daphne, was it? Why did you help me?"

Daphne both expected and dreaded the question, not really knowing how to answer him. "Actually, I have my reasons, but… Let's just say it was out of gratitude and leave it at that, for now. If you'll continue speak to me, maybe someday I'll tell you." She winked at the end, leaving Harry dumbfounded. They stayed in silence for a bit, until Harry, even as tired as he was, asked her: "So, have you got any ideas to free me from… This?" Harry pointed to his heart, and Daphne got his meaning. "Actually, there are two ways, both hard, but only one really suits you, the other is too Slytherin for the Golden Gryffindor boy" she said, sticking her tongue out at the last part, gesture replied by Harry in her direction.

Harry wondered to himself why he hadn't even considered her in these past years, but it really seemed that fate had had other ideas for him back then (A/N "fate" being "J.K." in our world xD). He shook these strange ideas from his head: "Tell me both, then let me judge, is that ok with you?" She nodded: "Well then, Potter, the first one is: you can go there and try to get her back from Longbottom, or…" she raised a hand when Harry began to speak, indignantly "… You move on from her, asking someone to help you. So, which one do you choose?" Harry chose the second, of course, but looking dejected soon after he told to himself more than her: "But how do I do that? Moreover, can I? I don't know, I don't know…" Daphne, sensing his despair, took his hand and started rubbing it, trying and managing to soothe him.

He was starting to doze off, but wanted to hear from her if she knew how to do it. She, however, shocked both him and herself promising: "I'll help you… Harry. If you want me around, that is." Harry nodded, already half-asleep, and managed to plead: "But how can I find you? Tell me, please…" Daphne smiled, a real, kind smile. "Let's just say I... I really love the lake." Harry nodded again and smiled back: "I might take you up on that offer, you know…" and then he fell asleep, clinging on these words for dear life. The Slytherin girl got up and started leaving, but on second thought, she kissed his cheek as a goodnight kiss and exited the Hospital Wing. 'I hope I can help you, Harry, I really do…' She thought while making her way to the Great Hall to talk to his friends and tell them where he was.

**A/N: Ok, second chapter, I hope you like it! I'm "siriusly" hoping this story won't suck in the end, because I like how it is turning out, you know? If you can and wish, Read and Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Aftermath of the war**

**A/N: If by now you don't know, I do not own anything about Harry Potter besides my own plot. And even the plot refuses to stay the way I thought it. I'll explain in due time.**

**Actually, I thank all my reviewers, and some of them in particular for giving me a new idea about this story: so, thanks to M3RCURI4L to point out something for me, though I won't say what until the end of the chapter. Thanks to "anon" and Penseln for pointing out that maybe I was rushing things; even if that wasn't my intention, they thought it looked like it, and re-reading the story, I know now it REALLY looks like it… I hope to not make the same mistake again, considering it wasn't even my intention in the first place! Also, thanks to HeartsGlow for rectifying a mistake on my part, I will correct it on this chapter!**

**Thanks to every other reviewer, knowing you're interested in my story makes me happy =) (oh,** sanbeegoldiewhitey**, was that some citation? I don't remember anything like that though =S)**

**Oh, by the way, Fred, Remus and Tonks are NOT dead here; you'll see thanks to who ;)**

**Now, let's stop my rambling, and on with the story! **

**Chapter 2: New Dawn**

Daphne Greengrass was by all means a very beautiful woman, with shoulder-length blonde hair and ice blue eyes. One of the most beautiful around Hogwarts, that was for sure. Even so, she never had anything more than casual dates from any of the Hogwarts student who managed to ask her out. This amounted to two.

Yes, two, because, when she was sorted in Slytherin, like her father wished for her, she was forced to adapt to that den full of bigotry and racism that was the Slytherin common room. And so she was forced to become a cold snob just like the others, only less hateful about the Gryffindors and the muggleborns because for her it was just a façade to preserve her honor. And this façade, when shown to the rest of the school, gave her the moniker of "Ice Queen of Slytherin".

Oh, sure, she was taught from her birth about her superior so-called "pureblood" heritage, but that didn't necessarily mean she respected and followed those ideas, especially considering what her father did to her in her life, just because she was a female and not a male like the bastard expected from her, to continue the Greengrass line.

Luckily for her, she was now free to choose her own destiny, and that made her happy, at least. Thinking about it, it was a bittersweet victory for her, but she was strong. She could do it.

Leaving Harry in the Hospital Wing, she went straight to the Great Hall to tell his location to his best friends to ease their possible worry, but entering the Hall she realized they were at the moment far from worried, judging by the fact they were snogging on a bench without a care in the world.

'That's really something! Their best friend ran away from them with tears in his eyes, and there they are, totally free and happy! Some friends Harry has!' thought Daphne with a bit of anger, and went searching for McGonagall. 'Probably she wants to know where he is…'

The Slytherin girl searched the Hall for any sign of the Deputy Mistress, only to find out she was not there. 'Weird… I thought she was around here…' She was so distracted in her research; she didn't see the man who was coming towards her, searching for someone. The two were so distracted; it was no surprise they both went on the floor, aching from the impact. "Owww… That's gonna leave a mark…" Daphne said, rubbing her backside. The man beside her was getting up, and Daphne started to say: "Sorry, I was searching for Professor Mc…" but was shocked at the man she saw "Professor Lupin!"

At the mention of his name, Remus Lupin looked at her. "Hello, Miss… Daphne Greengrass, do I remember right?" he said with a kind smile. Examining him, Daphne found out he was even paler and thinner than the last time she saw him as a professor, and he had a bloodied bandage around his upper body. 'Probably because of a curse…' she thought and then just nodded, not sure about what to say.

He looked at her for a moment, and then: "Sorry, Miss Greengrass, but I'm looking for someone, so if there's nothing else…" Remus said and started to go, but Daphne stopped him. "Wait, professor! Are you searching for Potter?" Shocked at the question, Remus turned again to face her, and started to ask but was interrupted by the blonde again. "He's in the Hospital Wing, I found him asleep outside and brought him in, and there was no one there, so…" Unsure of what to say, she asked him to follow her to the room, and Remus followed her, still unsure as to why a Slytherin girl of all people should know about his adoptive godson.

Something in his gut told him to trust her. Still, being careful was the best option, and so he stopped the blonde. "Wait, Miss. I'm going to bring someone else with me, is that ok with you?" Daphne stared at him, trying to probe his mind with the little bit of Legilimancy she knew, just to see if she could trust him, but all she found was mist. A thick, dark mist. 'What? Why can't I see anything?' Remus smirked at her internal struggle to look into his head, and asked: "Don't you trust me enough to not read my mind? And, by the way, you can't test a werewolf this way." With that, he walked away for a moment.

She cringed at her own idiocy, thinking she should've known better than probe a complex mind like that; and be discovered doing it, too! Whatever Slytherin pride was in her heart almost crushed at that statement by her former professor, but she wasn't sure he really was a werewolf: when Professor Snape, back then, let this rumor slip, she thought it was just that, a rumor! After all, it was widely known that Snape wanted Lupin's teacher position, so she thought he was just envious, but now…

She stopped her line of thinking when Lupin got back hand in hand with a girl that looked half his age. Not something hard, considering his half-grey hair made him look like a 60-years-old! But what really shocked her about the girl were her shocking, spiky pink hair, and her sparkling cyan eyes, and gaped, wide-eyed, when under her eyes, those two features transformed, upon seeing her, in shoulder-length, straight black hair and yellow, cat-like eyes. **(A/N: sorry, made that up, don't blame me lol)**

"Miss Greengrass, this is Nym…" started Lupin, but cringed when she shot him a killing glare. 'If looks could kill…' mused Daphne concealing a smile under her cold façade. "… Ehm, pardon me, she is Tonks. Tonks, this girl is Daphne Greengrass, a Slytherin-to-the-core, I might add." She shivered under the inquisitive glare from those feline eyes, but kept her cool. At least he hadn't mentioned her Legilimancy to this girl. Thankfully Lupin disarmed that Death Glare (yeah, with capital letter) with a smile and a reassurance: "Now, now, don't try to kill her with your glare; she knows where Harry is, after all!"

At that, Tonks' eyes immediately transformed in a beautiful pair of sparkling green eyes, so much alike Harry's ones, and her hair brightened to blonde, wavy, waist-length hair. "REALLY? Do you know where he is? Oh, I'm going to give the boy a piece of my mind! He had us so worried!" Tonks, now with flaming red hair and orange eyes, approached her, took her from the shoulders, and shook her a bit: "Where is he? Tell me!" Daphne was struggling to get free from this madwoman, when thankfully her former professor tried to rescue her again. "Nym, we need her alive, you know!" When Tonks didn't release her, Lupin grabbed her and kissed her with burning passion.

Tonks had barely time to register what happened before he pulled away. "Now stay calm, ok?" Both women were shocked at his change in attitude, in a different way, of course. Tonks was starting to think on how to receive another mind-blowing kiss like that, while Daphne wasn't sure this was really her former professor, because he was always so calm, it was almost infuriating; and seeing him kiss like that…

For a moment, she envied Tonks' luck, because she saw her staggering a bit before recomposing herself. 'A boyfriend like that, for me, someday… If only…' Her eyes started glistening, but she maintained her façade, and turned to Lupin who was still embracing that madwoman. She noted the rings on their hands and understood immediately. "Professor Lupin… Mrs. Lupin" she added with a smirk, smirk that threatened to split her face when both of them blushed like a schoolboy and a schoolgirl caught in something worth a detention "Can we go now?" Still blushing, both of them nodded and followed the girl in her path to the Hospital Wing.

The restless sleep Harry was in that night wasn't exactly what you could call refreshing. Still, when Harry awoke in a sweat after two hours or so passed sleeping, his mind was perfectly clear, even though his eyes were not. His glasses fell off the bridge of his nose, as usual when he slept in it. But before he could place them back on their eyes, he was engulfed in a hug.

He couldn't tell who was attacking him, but a familiar voice in his surroundings made his aggressor's identity quite clear: "Now, now, my dear Nymmy, is this how you treat someone who just got up?" 'Remus!' Harry's mind screamed, but the attack was leaving him quite breathless, and he couldn't talk without any air, could he? "Whoops, sorry" his attacker finally released him, allowing him to breathe some much needed air. "Guess I kind of… Got carried away" she said scratching the back of her neck with some embarrassment. Lupin rolled her eyes at that, but soon after he was at Harry's side, tackling him in a one-arm hug, trying to comfort him as much as possible.

"Harry" he started, unsure of what to say. "How are you feeling?" At that, Harry's eyes looked down, almost in shame, and he started, with a hoarse voice: "Aside from the fact that I'm basically alone, because my best friends are now a couple, and heartbroken because of a traitor and a… A… Oh, I don't even know how to describe her…! That's what you wanted to know, right?" The werewolf cringed at the harshness of both his voice and his words, and stayed silent. "Well, as you can see, aside from that, I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much, Moony!" He finished with a hint of sarcasm.

The werewolf left his side to place himself in front of him, and raised his chin to look him directly in those emerald eyes, shining with tears. "Now you listen to me, young man: you. Are. NOT. ALONE! Do you believe me?" Harry, still a bit unsure, half-nodded, and Lupin continued his talk to convince him to see reason. "Ok, Ron and Hermione may be a bit unavailable now, but they won't leave your side! And you've got me and Tonks, too!" Tonks nodded at those words and took Harry's hands in hers. "There's also Luna, if you think about it, and…" At that, a smirk made his way on Remus' face "You've got that young lady that brought us here, Daphne, right?" Harry's face shot up at that. "She brought you here? Why?" "It was her idea, and I actually agreed with her, that you needed a comforting shoulder. I was searching for you already, so she guided us here. Tonks here was a bit suspicious of her, but in the end she decided to follow her… Even if at first she tried to force the secret out of her with her usual diplomacy." Tonks blushed and glared at Lupin for that, earning only a victorious smirk in return from him and a confused expression from Harry.

She tried to threaten Harry about not asking, but before she could end her threat, realization dawned on Harry, and a bit of concern made his way on his face. "I hope she's still in one piece! Knowing your "diplomacy"… Ow! What was that for?" He glared at Tonks, who had punched his arm with a mock glare for that comment. "You know what THAT was for, my dear, so stay quiet now!" Harry stuck his tongue at her, who smirked in return, and turned to Lupin. "So, what did she tell you? And why you two? I thought Ron and Hermione would have been the normal choices…" he said with a small pang of loneliness.

Lupin shifted a bit in the spot on which he seated, not knowing how to say this, but his internal musings about the best way to approach his adoptive godson about it were interrupted by Tonks and another attempt at "diplomacy" from her part: "Actually, they were snogging seemingly without a care in the world" she said with something that, to Harry, looked like rage, and she raised a hand when the werewolf tried to stop her "No, Remus, he should know the truth, no need to sugar his pill! They were in the middle of the Great Hall, for God's sake! They certainly weren't worrying about him when that Daphne got in there and found you!"

Harry wasn't happy to hear that, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry with them. After all, they were by his side for almost all of the war (Hermione more than Ron, actually), so it was probably a relief not to be with him any longer. When he said it in words, though, he received a slap in the face and another one in the back of his neck. "Hey! Don't slap me like that!" the Boy-Who-Lived told them, only to meet glares from both the Lupin. "And you wouldn't want to injure the Slayer of Voldemort or whatever they're going to call me from now on, wouldn't you?" At that comment, the glare became a snicker from both sides, and Harry used that moment to change the subject, not really wishing to talk about what happened in the Great Hall. "So, Daphne brought you here, huh?" He remembered having seen her at some of his classes, and slapped himself for being so idiotic not to remember her name yesterday. At their nod, he ordered to himself 'I really should thank her' before starting to talk about what will happen to the Wizarding World after his victory, until Harry said he needed to sleep for a bit, before dawn arrived. The Lupins nodded and left him, with the promise of coming back in the morning.

Daphne sat at the edge of the Great Lake, against her favorite tree. Dawn was slowly approaching, and she had a first-seat view from her position. 'It's so beautiful…' she thought, but her thoughts were interrupted by someone approaching. Turning around, she saw a platinum-haired head, and immediately understood who was arriving. She got back to look at the rising sun, and didn't even spare a glance his way. "You know, you usually should say hello to someone who approaches you, Greengrass." She smirked and continued to ignore him. "Awww, that's a shame; you really ARE ignoring me and choosing to watch the sun?" Daphne rolled her eyes at that. "Come on, Malfoy, knock it off! Weren't you supposed to stop with that act?" Draco stopped at that and sat near her. "Ok, ok, sorry!" They sat for a minute in companionable silence, something impossible until a few months ago.

"Hey, Daphne, listen…" Draco started. Daphne , still a bit distracted by the beautiful dawn, chose to just nod. "Do you know what are you going to do now?" Draco asked her, hoping to find some way to go on. "I'm not sure… I'm probably going to repeat Hogwarts for my last year. I need to take my NEWTs before doing anything in my life, and YOU" she pointed at Draco "should really do the same! Now that you're not God's gift anymore, as you yourself confirmed to me, you really should do your best at least for this! Try to take 6th year exams, and then study for those! What do you say?" Draco thought about it for some time, and awaiting his answer Daphne watched again the dawn.

'A new dawn for the Wizarding world… Yeah, sure!' she thought, rolling her eyes, but was brought out of her reverie by Draco shaking her awake. "Hey, Greengrass, you still with me?" Daphne nodded, and then noticed someone exiting the castle and nearing the lake. "Hey, that's Potter! What is he doing here? Come on, let's go ask him!" Draco said, and then got up and offered his hand to her, but she got up on her own. "I can get up by myself, but thanks for your offer, Draco" she said, before offering the smallest of smiles to him, and when he started to walk up to their savior she, with a moment of hesitation, not knowing if she could reveal her agreement with Harry to Draco, followed him.

**A/N: Sorry for my crappy connection! Because of that, I updated my fanfiction far too late for my liking. And sorry for changing also the summary and the genre, too! But in the beginning, this story was meant to be a simple story of the aftermath of Voldie's demise; a different story from the usual stories with Daphne, usually starting around forth/fifth year or first year, and casting a Daphne that acts as a guide to the Wizarding world with a massive crush on Harry, and sometimes Harry is, in these stories, a Godlike!Harry. I found out that when Harry is far more powerful than his enemies, there really is no fun in the story; like in a videogame, if you're on par with your enemy, then you can have fun. If you're too powerful and beat the game like nothing, then where is the fun? Think about it if you can! Oh, and thanks again to M3RCURI4L for pointing that a Harry/Daphne story without lordship, as mine was supposed to be, really doesn't seem adequate, at least!**

**If you wish, read and review, but Internet world is (almost) free, so if you review, thank you very much, and if you don't, no need to force you =)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Aftermath of the war**

**A/N: Ok, guys, listen up. HARRY. POTTER. IS. NOT. MINE. And with that said…**

**Oh, by the way, I'm loosely quoting Deathly Hallows, and from the Italian version, so deal with it if it's not the same quote from the book!**

**Before the story, here are my answers to all of you who read my story, and to those who reviewed, here are my thanks and my answer…**

**Trogo, trust me; when someone discovers their loved one's betrayal, most of the time they're broken beyond repair. ****Harry should be worse, considering his life, but trust me, it's just for now!**

**Revenge on Ginny and Neville? Probably on Ginny, but on Neville… I'm still not sure, Krasni, just wait for next chapters!**

**For "An understanding fan", nice to see I'm not the only one who sees it that way!**

**Penseln, everyone is on character right now, because I'm still sticking to canon, but soon, some of them will probably grow up emotionally; it's necessary for the story, don't you think?**

**To Dumbledork, trust me; this is not going to be the usual royal-rich Harry, you'll see in due time if you decide to stick to the story!**

**To everyone else, thanks for reviewing, and now…**

**On with the story! *cheers around me in my head* (I'm delusional, I know XD)**

**Chapter 3: Behind the scenes**

When Harry exited the infirmary, he went straight down to the Great Lake, searching for Daphne. He needed to know why all of a sudden she revealed herself to him, the night before.

_Flashback_

"_Ah, Minister!" Percy said, and hit the man in front of him with a curse, that hit its mark dead on. "Did I tell you I'm resigning from my place in the Ministry?"_

"_You made a joke, Percy!" Fred yelled to him. "Last time I heard you make a joke was…" but he was interrupted from a screaming girl. "LOOK OUT!" followed by a cry from the same voice of "SECTUMSEMPRA!" Harry turned in the direction of the scream, only to see a white flash from a now bleeding Death Eater coming towards them. "DOWN!" he screamed, and everyone complied. The explosion against one of the castle wall was deafening, and all around them Harry felt flying debris. He could only imagine what would have happened to them, had that girl not taken down the Death Eater throwing the curse._

_He tried to talk to her when she got near them, but she ran past, and other curses from behind her made Harry crouch down and counter them. Before she disappeared, though, he managed to notice a Slytherin mark on her Hogwarts uniform and blonde, shoulder-length hair._

_End Flashback_

Back then, Harry's mind was far more worried with the curses flying towards them, but in the aftermath he managed to remember. If it weren't for her, probably one or more of his friends could have died that very same moment. And thinking about her also made him remember something else, after Voldemort tried to make everyone in Hogwarts surrender after his "death".

_Flashback_

_He noticed her during his way up to the Hall, fighting against a Death Eater that was taunting her. "Ha! A blood-traitor like you cannot defeat me! You're going to pay for going against your own family!" At that, she started trembling in fury for a moment, only to raise her eyes after that and yell, with barely restrained rage: "My family is DEAD! I have NO family!" _

_The man yelled back at her: "You little slag! Is this how you treat someone better than you? I'm going to show you…" But he never managed to end his statement, because of a well-aimed Blasting curse at his torso that killed him on the spot. Harry caught a glimpse of tears in the girl's eyes, sparkling ice blue eyes that looked at the man before her with hate and sadness. Harry took a look at what could be seen of the man and something hit him: his eyes. Even in death, they were easily recognizable._

_The very same eyes of the girl who killed him._

_End Flashback_

This fact made Harry curious, but he knew it probably was either a coincidence or a personal matter. He scanned the area around him in search of the girl, and he found her with… Draco? 'Well, something else to clear then' Harry thought, and he went to reach them.

_Flashback_

_Harry was running around the castle, taking down Death Eater after Death Eater. He noticed Lupin in a corner, bleeding, with Tonks over him, as a form of protection. Then he noticed the Death Eater above them, laughing and cackling like a madman to that useless display of affection. "You are a really stupid little girl, you know? Why waste your life for him? Now you'll die with this scum!" He then tried to attack both with some silver bullets he summoned, but before he managed to throw them to the last Marauder and his wife, Harry shouted a Bludgeoning curse, only to find that someone else had cast another curse from the other side of the hooded figure. Harry looked over the falling Death Eater only to find…_

'_Malfoy?' Harry asked to himself, shocked. Why was the blonde-haired idiot helping him? Unless… "Are you asking for forgiveness, Malfoy? For being an idiot and a racist?" Malfoy looked over to him, fury on his eyes. "I'm in need of revenge, Potter! Nothing else!" Harry blinked, not expecting that answer, but in the meantime, the Death Eater had managed to get himself up and tried to cast an unknown curse first on him, and then on Malfoy, missing them both. Seeing his display of agility, Harry muttered to himself: "I've got to admit, he probably didn't JUST buy his way on the Slytherin team as a Seeker…" and then he yelled to Malfoy: "You want revenge? Help me here!" Malfoy nodded and started throwing curses to the man, who dodged them with ease._

"_Ha! Little kids on the battlefield, is this what Dumbledork trained to oppose the Dark Lord? Oh" He then added, recognizing Malfoy. "And one of them is a blood traitor too! Like father, like son, then? The Dark Lord was right, you REALLY are unworthy! Just like your parents, you don't deserve to live!" and he fired a Bone-Breaker curse to Malfoy who barely dodged and ended up breaking his left shoulder. That attack, however, left him unprotected on his other front and Harry fired a Bone-Breaker against his backbone. Both Harry and Malfoy then shouted: "SECTUMSEMPRA!" and killed the man. Malfoy then got near the corpse. "That's what you get for killing my parents…" He kicked the mask off his face and spat on his nose "Mulciber, you bastard…"_

_During this, Harry was on Lupin, who was breathing heavily due to his wounds. "Tonks, we need to bring him to the Hall! Can you help me?" Tonks nodded, but in that very same moment Voldemort's voice broke out, magically amplified, and ordered the retreat to his followers. _**(From here on, the canon story is pretty much the same.)**

_End flashback_

While recalling these events, he finally reached them, and Draco asked him the most dreaded question of all: "Hey, Potter, how are you?" Daphne swatted him in the arm. "You idiot! Of course he's not fine! Not yet, anyway, right, Harry?" Harry muttered her a silent thank you, and then faced Draco again: "Draco, you of all people should know how I feel, don't you?" Draco looked down, and then a realization hit him. He looked at Daphne the very same moment she looked at him, having realized something herself, and both questioned at the same moment: "Is there something I don't know and you should tell me?" Harry laughed outright at that, and realizing the absurdity of the situation, both Slytherin soon joined him in his laughter.

If someone should have seen them in that very same moment, they would have seen three people laughing madly without a care in the world, their personal troubles aside for a moment, and they would have either shaken their heads at the scenario, or called S. Mungo and have them immediately in isolation.

Eventually, the laughing stopped, and the three collapsed on the ground. They got up after a moment, and Harry motioned them to follow him. They complied, and after a moment the trio sat against a tree near the Lake. "So, Potter, tell me: how do you know the girl right beside me?" He motioned towards Daphne, and she asked something herself. "Why of all people should _Draco_ know how you feel?" Harry chuckled again, and stopped their soon-to-be bickering. "Ok, you two, now stop! I came down here to… Err" he stopped, not knowing how to thank a girl he barely knew and his rival for the past school years. "I don't know how to say it."

Both Daphne and Draco urged him on, now curious to know what made the now probably legendary Savior so embarrassed and a bit tongue-tied. "Err, ok, it's like this: I wanted to thank you both for what you did for me yesterday night, in the battle. Ok, you probably did this for your own reasons, but still, I needed to thank you for saving me and my friends when the situation was dire." Draco shrugged it off with: "It was just revenge, Potter, don't get all mushy on me now!" Harry grinned at him, and could tell that Draco appreciated his thanks, despite trying to conceal it. Daphne didn't answer with anything else than a nod, a small smile and a muttered "You're welcome", even though something else was clearly bothering her.

"Hey, is something wrong?" He asked her, with concern, and he felt more than saw Draco also getting near her to hear her explanation. She shook from her reverie and smiled at the boys. "Oh, come on, I'm fine, don't worry about me! Say, what are you going to do now that everything is over?" Harry shrugged his shoulders at the question, not really knowing how to answer to that… Yet. "Ok, then answer me, Harry! Why should Draco know how you feel?" Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes at the childlike curiosity that dripped from the question. Draco chimed in with his own question. "Potter, how do you know her? Answer me!"

Harry started sweating when both Slytherins approached him with predatory smirks. "Listen, I shouldn't answer this, you should question each other, don't you think?" The two looked at each other, while Harry stepped backwards a bit. Then "NO!" was yelled from both and they started chasing Harry, who by this time was fully prepared to run.

After a bit, their chase became something like a game, and the three laughed and ran for a bit before collapsing again. By now it was around 7 in the morning, and probably breakfast was about to be served. When Harry pointed this out to his companions, though, both looked like they didn't care, but Draco was the only one of the two who explained the reasons to Harry: "Now I am a Lord, in theory anyway, so why should I go in the Hall when I probably can call a House Elf? Every Lord has his own servant, so you probably do too, Potter, and don't try to fool me into believing you don't have one!" He looked at Harry, who had a bewildered expression on his face. Daphne was perplexed, but Draco laughed at the expression on his new friend's face: "And now you're probably going to tell me you don't even know you're a Lord! Ha!" He rolled in the grass, laughing, while Daphne, noticing Harry's expression becoming, if possible, even more bewildered, began connecting the pieces in her mind, but stayed silent waiting for Draco to stop laughing.

Eventually, he looked up with a grin: "Come on, Potter! Your joke failed!" but his grin disappeared when he noticed his face. He got up and started pacing back and forth. "I can't believe it! I called you an idiot, unable to choose his friends, a mentally unstable freak, and when I change my mind and decide maybe you're not so bad…" He pointed a finger at the Chosen. "You go and confirm my earlier assumptions! It's impossible! Why? Why you don't know you're the Lord of both the Ancient House of Potter and the Ancient House of Black?"

At that, Harry's eyes widened. "My father was a lord? And _Sirius_ was a Lord?" Draco's jaw dropped, and before he could continue his rant, the small voice of the Ice Queen stopped him. "Dumbledore… He didn't tell you anything about this, did he?" Harry slowly shook his head, and when he looked her in the eyes, he saw rage, and something like hate, in those ice blue pools. But when she spoke, her voice was calm and controlled. "Then it's time you learn about your family."

And he learned indeed. He learned everything about his blood heritage, about the Ancient House of Potter being one of the oldest in the Wizarding World, reconnecting to both the Founding House of Gryffindor and the Supreme House of Peverell; probably those titles meant nothing politically by now, but historically it was a matter of prestige to be heir to a Supreme or a Founding House, even if only a minor heir, not from the main line.

At that point, Draco interrupted her, adding to his knowledge also the fact he was also the magical heir of the Ancient House of Black. "What?" Harry's eyes widened at that; he knew for a fact that Draco's mother was Sirius' sister, so why was he the heir of the House of Black if by blood the blond boy outweighed him?

Draco had an explanation to that. "He probably chose you as his magical heir, a magical heir can be chosen only by the Head of House, and can outweigh the blood heritage in some cases. Oh, by the way, why weren't you at his will reading? I would have expected _you_ all of people to show up, but I didn't see you!" Harry was shocked and seething, why wasn't he informed about this? Daphne put a hand on his arm to calm him. "Now it's not important, I need you to tell the rest."

Daphne tried to start talking again, but a loud rumble interrupted her, coming from all of their stomach. "Well, I think we can go to breakfast for now, don't you think?" Harry nodded and when they got up he asked: "Are you two Lord Malfoy and Lady Greengrass, then? Or am I mistaken?" Draco nodded, and so did Daphne, although much more reluctantly. Harry noticed, but kept quiet because he didn't want to push away this newfound friend, and thinking about it, he could need Draco around him as well, because of his situation, so similar to his own.

Eventually they reached the Great Hall, and upon entering they noticed there were just two of the usual four tables meant for the Hogwarts Houses, but they were full to the brim with various kinds of food. Also, they noticed various full beds near the Hall's walls. When Harry entered, everyone started cheering for him, but Harry could care less about it. He just needed to find his friends, but before he could look around he was choking in a mane of bushy hair. "Her… Mio… Ne… Can't… Brea… The…"

Hermione released him, with a sheepish grin. "Sorry Harry…" but then she became the usual bossy girl everyone knows "Where were you? We searched for you this morning! We were SO worried!" Daphne rolled her eyes behind Harry 'Yeah, of course, Granger, maybe Potter was hidden somewhere in Weasley's mouth…' then shuddered thinking about that 'No! NO! Bad image. Bad mental image. Go away!' She was concentrating so much on removing the idea of Ron's mouth, she did not notice the very same Ron arrived behind Hermione in that moment and hugged her from behind, noticing Harry soon after.

"Harry, mate, finally! Listen, I'm sorry for…" and he stopped, not knowing what to say, but Harry waved it off. Ron shrugged awkwardly, and then he noticed Draco and Daphne behind Harry. "What are you two snakes doing here? Stay away!" he tried to shoo them away, but to no avail, and Harry stopped him before he could hex them. "Ron, they are my friends now! And, you really should be more careful when examining your surroundings, considering SHE's the girl that saved us yesterday!" Ron frowned, not getting it, but Hermione suddenly realized. "It was YOU, then!" she made her way towards Daphne, who was a bit on edge because of Ron, but immediately softened when Hermione hugged her and returned the hug. "Thank you very much for that. If it weren't for you…" the bushy-haired witch whispered to her, and then sniffled before separating herself from the Slytherin witch. "Harry's friends are MY friends! Hermione Granger, nice to meet you! You're Daphne Greengrass, right?" Daphne shook her hand and nodded to her.

Harry was happy that Hermione at least approved of this, but when he looked past the witches, he noticed Ron and Draco glaring daggers at each other. "Both of you, stop this for now, ok? Please?" The two looked first at Harry, then at each other; after that, both shook hands looking anywhere else but between them. Harry knew this was a fragile truce, but right now, it was better than nothing.

Harry then noticed a single owl launching his package in front of Hermione. He immediately recognized the Prophet, and tried to take it, but Hermione and Daphne were faster this time and started reading the first article. The boy immediately thought something was wrong when the witches paled a bit for what was written in there, and snatched the paper from them, ignoring their protests. He started reading:

_NEW ELECTIONS AFTER THE WAR_

_A few minutes ago, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister-In-Interim after You-Know-Who was defeated, declared his intentions to only prepare Magical Britain to new elections, which should occur in two weeks or so. The real shock, however, are the only two candidates who stepped forward. One of the two is, of course, the Minister-In-Interim himself. The other one, though, is…_

"Dolores Umbridge." Harry trembled with fury at that, but continued reading.

_The Senior Undersecretary, cleared of all the accusation about her marking from You-Know-Who and her cooperation with his forces, has now established her new party, called "Order and Harmony." She already promised harsh punishment for all those people accused of using dark magic in whatever form, and her consensus is now broadening against the more morbid line from the Minister-In-Interim, who of course promised to investigate everyone suspected of relying on the Dark Arts, but, as his political opponent gently put it, "The world now needs justice; something my opponent blatantly misunderstands. But I, Dolores Umbridge, will make SURE no one, and I mean NO ONE, will use dark magic ever again. And everyone suspected will be forced to redeem, or be removed from society. All for Order and Harmony!"_

_We at the Daily Prophet wish her luck, knowing that in dire times like these, even without a Dark Lord over our heads, luck is really what we need._

Harry stopped reading. He did not need any more. "Harry…" Hermione put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to turn around. He looked at all his friends. Draco and Ron were looking at him with a frown on their faces, knowing well what those words meant. Daphne and Hermione hugged him trying to comfort him, and he hugged back, though in his mind there was a swirl of thoughts. There was one, though, that managed to find his way through the vortex. 'No peace for me, it seems, huh?'

_**Ministry of Magic**_

_**Department of Mysteries**_

Dolores Umbridge was happy. _Deliriously _so. She had played her cards well and now she was about to win her gamble. She had helped that dark fool without getting marked, and killed everyone who knew the truth. Well, actually, she sent someone. She was even happier about finding _him._ That boy was her ace in the trump, and she used it well. Not to say she wouldn't need him anymore. Quite the opposite, actually. She needed him more than ever now.

The toadface reached a door in the Department, a secret door used for training. She knew about that door only because someone who knew about her gamble was one of those Mute fools. There was a training room in there, used only for special trainees. And he actually _was._

When she reached the door, she knocked from a side first. Knowing that paranoid… BOOOOM. Yeah, she was right, he had blasted again the door. She entered the room after that, and repaired the door after her. "Somehow I knew that was to be expected, Arthas." The young man only nodded, and then got back to his training. With silvery, neck-length hair, and silvery eyes, his face was always expressionless. The only clue about him and his origins were the armor, engraved with demonic runes, and the sword with the same runes to his side. **(A/N: for those of you who know Warcraft 3, you know how Arthas looks like. For the others, search Google and you'll find him, OR use your imagination :D )**

"Why are you here?" He asked, his voice a monotone buzz. "Other preys?" This time, a grin cracked his ice mask.

Umbridge nodded. "You have ten days to master something new from that book." She gestured toward an old, black tome, with no title at all. "Someone needs to die exactly TEN days from now." She now had a sick, vicious grin, which matched the one on his face. "Count on me." he said, and started to train. Satisfied with his answer, she left the room again, with a thought in her mind, ignoring it was the very same thought in his mind. 'You idiot… Just you wait; the very same moment you outlive your usefulness, you _die…'_

_**Unknown Place**_

_**Somewhere in Britain**_

"Well, this settles it. We need to act, _now._" A young man said, reading through the Prophet. The other man inside the room, barely thirty-year-old **(A/N: if you know the original character, if something is wrong, point it out to me, both for Arthas and for this one.) **with violet hair and eyes, and a Muggle white lab-coat, turned to him. "What is it? What happened?" he asked, and then he read the title on the Prophet. "Oh, ok, right…" he said, drawling his words a bit. "It's not ok, Shu! And it's not right! We need to settle this NOW!" the boy, with his twinkling eyes and sandy blonde hair, could have looked really imposing, were it not for the fact that he was barely twenty, but the crackling magic in the room left no place for mistakes; the boy was very, VERY powerful.

The older man, Shu, was aware of that, but that didn't stop him from considering the boy a little brat. "All right, stay calm now. We will find a way out, do I make myself clear?" The boy looked a bit surprised when a dark flame surrounded the man, but he managed to hide it, and nodded stoically. "When this will be over with, I hope you'll help me again. You _really _are powerful…" He said, a bit in awe at the older man, but then he started his rambling again. "When this will be over, we will _dominate the World, BOTH WIZARDING AND MUGGLE!" _He shot up from his chair, and his eyes took a faraway look. Shu almost laughed at that; instead, he pushed onward the boy's madness. "And I, my lord Silente, shall never disappoint you, of course… (_Not' _he added in his head, with a smirk. '_When I won't need you any longer, you'll see…'_)".

**A/N: Mmm… I hope this story won't turn out horribly in the end, I really like my plot so far. Hope you think so too!**

**Oh, by the way, I'm searching for a power, JUST ONE, to assign to Harry, and something for Daphne and Draco too! Also for other characters, but I can't tell who, because it would be a spoiler to the story! Start brainstorming, guys, and PM me if you've got any ideas; in the meantime, if you wish, review! And please, NO FLAMES!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Aftermath of the war**

**Chapter 4: Chess game**

**A/N**_: _Sorry for the delay, but what can I say? Real life got in my way… Why does it look like a poem? Well, no matter, I'm rambling here, let me!

Well, before starting the story, I need to respond to the reviews:

First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed! And now, on to the answers!

Dinomus, actually, there is a character here that helps Harry, but not about his title, and not in this chapter. And, Harry _will _be an Animagus, but I need to decide his form before attempting it. If the story still has you interested, stay tuned!

To Krasni, your answer is in this chapter, if you read carefully!

Naginator, first, thanks for being there to review at every chapter! But rest assured, this is _**NOT **_a crossover, I'm just using those characters as models, Shu won't be on a giant robot that throws Black Holes like candies, and Arthas is still a stupid boy, much different from the character from Warcraft 3!

To whatweareafreaidof, sorry if this story is not what you like, if you don't like it then you can search for something else, I'm not forcing you to stay.

To cah11, as for Krasni, you find your answer, or at least part of it, in this chapter! About the element, I'll talk about it after the reviews.

Thanks to The Unusual Suspect, one of the writers that inspire me in this story! I followed your suggestion about Author's notes, as you can see!

Now, many people pointed out Harry's actions about Ron and Hermione, and I hope to answer to them with this chapter! And about the powers, I thank cah11 and Dinomus for pointing out the element idea, I think I'll use it! Still not sure about which element though. Also, thanks to The Unusual Suspect for pointing out telepathy, I think I will use it! Teleportation isn't really necessary, they can Apparate, so maybe there is no need for that. Also, mind control maybe takes things a little too far, I'll think about it though!

Oh, another thing, if you find my style or my grammar confusing or wrong, point it out!

Now your old disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine (I wish it were, though XD)

On with the story!

_**Italy**_

_**Somewhere in Palermo, Sicily**_

'He's not going to like this_…' _a girl thought while almost running down the street. Muggles were staring at her, recognizing her, but she could care less at the moment. Their stares were something between admiration and envy from female Muggles and drooling from males. 'Oh, how I hate those stares!' she glared at some Muggle who wolf-whistled to her, and smirked at his backing away.

She had to admit she was a fine girl: black, shoulder-length, wavy hair, with two violet small tresses running down the sides of her face, an athletic build, a small face with a straight nose and a mouth with full, luscious lips, and an ass men, and even some women, would die after, topped by her beautiful golden-brown eyes, shining under Palermo's night lights, made her certainly very attractive; not that she noticed it, considering she just defined herself as 'fine'. The fact she was dressed in jeans shorts that barely reached mid-thigh and in a black, short sleeved jacket over a white top didn't help stopping the stares from the male population of Palermo either.

The girl had apparently reached her destination, because she started fumbling in her pockets; after a bit of research, she found a key and inserted it in the keyhole, opening the door to her home. 'It was open, so… He must be here…' With a mischievous grin, she tiptoed silently on each step, until she arrived in front of another door, opened with a silent 'Alohomora' and entered.

She immediately spotted a figure in her favorite armchair, but when she got nearer, a voice from that armchair caught her: "You should know not to sneak up on me, dear" with a grin, the figure got up, revealing a well-built man, a bit on the fat side, with short black hair and almost void black eyes, and a bit of a goatee on his chin. But what surprised her most of all was…

"Let me get this clear: you disappear two weeks, getting in touch only a few times, and when you get back you're already making yourself at home?" she said, eyeing his naked figure, and then purred "Mhhh, I like it…" before engulfing him in a bear hug, which he returned, but when he felt her breasts on his body, he commented: "Damn it, girl, you know how much I missed you, right? Then why are you trying to make me suffer like this?" With a smirk which could only be described as _naughty, _she explained like a mother with her child: "Because I was _so _alone all this time, my dear, and…" she stopped for a moment, running a finger over his not-so-flat abdomen "I bet you were, too, weren't you?" She then removed her jacket, and proceeded to sit on the free couch.

He eyed the golden-eyed beauty for a moment, and, resisting his desire to jump on her, he asked: "So, anything new? Did you find anything?" She immediately got up, and went behind him: "Yeah, I found something, but you have to earn it, you know…" and she hugged him from behind, nipping his earlobe and blowing some hot air in his ear. This time it was much harder to resist, but he had to know. "Oh, come on, I'll make it up to you… _After_ you tell me everything you know, that is."

With a pout, the girl released him and went back to the couch. "Aww, you're no fun! Alright, fine…" She then took out a newspaper, a British one, judging from the language in which it was written. What amazed him, however, was the date on the newspaper. "Hold on a sec" he stopped her from talking "How the heck did you manage to have a copy of this paper when it actually got out a few minutes or so?" She fidgeted a bit, for the first time during their conversation unsure about how to answer "Err, my informer in England, you know, the one who needed to remain unknown?" The boy huffed at that: it was one of the few… Err, scratch that, maybe the _only_ secret between them, and he hated it, but he nonetheless motioned her to continue.

Not knowing what to say about his behavior, she explained "Actually, I have no precise news about those two, but _she" _The girl emphasized the last word, and he heaved a sigh of relief, to which she looked slightly hurt: how could he even _think_ of a betrayal from her? She promised to herself to talk with him about this as soon as possible and continued explaining "She has sent me this; according to this… Err… Daily Prophet, this lady…" she pointed to the witch in the first page "Well, more like a toad, actually, has created a party. That by itself is already no small feat, considering that there are no new real parties in British politics from too much time. But…" She raised a hand when he was about to object to this history lesson. "The name of this party, that's what concerns me. Read it." She passed the newspaper to him, waiting while he read.

It wasn't long before he raised his widened eyes from the paper. "_Order and Harmony? _But that's the old motto from the Doom Knights!" "That's right" she continued for him "This may be just a coincidence, but it's certainly better than just wait here for their action, don't you think?" He nodded, absentmindedly, his mind already running a mile a minute.

His train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted from a body pressed against his, and a soft, sensual voice who asked him: "So, what now? Don't I deserve at least a prize for my help?" His body suddenly reacting, almost any coherent thought out of the window, he managed to ask: "Fancy a trip to London tomorrow, my dear 'Fate'?" The girl pretended to think, and then she separated herself from him. Noticing she was no longer leaning on him, he turned around, just in time to see his angel reaching towards a closed door and opening it, leaving her shorts in her wake, swaying her hips seductively in the process, and then turning towards him. "We have a _very long_ night before that, don't you think, my dear 'Valefor'?" Winking at him, she reached for her top and removed it, tossing it aside and revealing no bra underneath, and then she closed the door behind her.

With a growl, he got up and rushed after her.

_**Somewhere in Britain**_

_**Hogwarts, Room of Requirement**_

"Ok, guys, the situation is serious" Hermione spoke to all her companions in the room. Those were Harry, Ron, and, surprisingly, Daphne and Draco, along with Luna Lovegood, the blonde Ravenclaw who had helped them so much along those last years. "Due to strange circumstances, even if that _toad_" she hissed the last word with pure hate "was so cruel on us and on Harry, also trying to use an Unforgivable on Harry, she managed somehow to make her way up the ranks again in no time. Knowing how twisted she is, we should think of a way to not let her turn upside down our world by becoming Minister. Any ideas?"

She glanced around the Room, noticing that, outside of Ron, who was too occupied glaring to the Slytherins, everyone was thinking seriously about the matter. Harry had his brow furrowed and was clearly concentrating; but, weird as it seemed, so was Draco. 'I really don't get it…' Hermione thought, analyzing every feature of his face 'Why does Harry trust him so much? I mean, Daphne I can understand, after her help during the battle, but _Draco?_ And, why now? What happened to make him change sides?'

With a feeling that something was missing with the blonde boy, she continued examining the Room. She also noticed Luna's appearance was a bit off: no Butterbeer necklace, no radish earrings, and most of all, no _unfocused stare._ Her mind, already in motion for Draco, moved even faster because of this other mystery, and for that, she completely lost what Ron was saying to her, only realizing after a moment that he actually talked to her at all.

"Oh, sorry, Ron, what were you saying? My mind was wandering…" She said, smiling at her boyfriend. He returned the smile and placed his hands on her hips, looking at her in the eyes. "What is my favorite know-it-all thinking, huh? Can I help you?" Hermione's smile grew even wider, up to the point she was practically beaming. "No, Ron, maybe not, but thank you very much for trying!" She then bear-hugged him, making him lose his balance for a moment, but then he returned the hug and kissed her. Both failed to notice the pained expression on Draco's face, but he quickly hid it, so no one really noticed. Well, at least that's what he thought.

"It's clear you fancy her, you know" a voice near his ear said. Startled, he turned around coming face-to-face with… "What are you saying, _Loony? _I _certainly_ DO NOT fancy a mug-mud- oh, I don't even know how to call her!" Luna just smiled at his confusion; it should have been clear though, at least to someone who really knew her, that it wasn't her usual lost smile, but just a shadow. Harry, who listened to the conversation between the two, noticed Luna was different and, puzzled, asked her: "Hey, Luna, are you alright? You look a bit… Err…" 'Off' was the word Harry was about to use, but he refrained himself, because Luna this time was actually _totally on_, contrary to her usual appearance_; _before he could inquiry further, though, Luna stopped him, saying she was fine. Harry didn't believe it, but being the reserved person he was, he stayed silent; he certainly didn't need to push away a friend.

For the same reason he hadn't said a word to his so-called best friends about the fact that, according to Lupin and Tonks, with the later confirmation from Daphne, they were snogging and not worrying about him in the least; he couldn't bring himself to talk to them about this matter, because right now, he needed all the help he could get to heal from his ex-girlfriend's betrayal, even though right now his friends were little better than her.

His internal musings were cut short as a hand shook him from a shoulder. Harry already had his wand in his hand by reflex, but he lowered it as soon as he noticed who was the hand's owner. "Harry, calm down! It's me, Daphne!" she looked at him with concern, a bit surprised about his reflexes, and he smiled sheepishly before taking the wand away. "Sorry Daphne, were you saying something?" Daphne narrowed a bit her eyes at him, but decided not to comment on this: "Ok, ok, no problem; just so you know, though, I may have a solution to our problem, but if you're not interested…" She then turned away, hiding a victorious smirk from him, when she felt a hand on her shoulder: "Wait, Daphne, please, tell me!"

Noticing the pleading tone in his voice, Daphne turned around with a real smile at how cute he looked when pleading. 'Cute? Daphne! You're not supposed to think that way about anyone right now!' She mentally scolded herself for her stupidity and got up from one of the armchairs in the Room, to fully get everyone's attention.

It worked: everyone, including Ron Weasley, turned and looked at her. "Ok, our problem is this: we _have to _stop Umbitch" everyone in the room snickered, aside from Hermione who, from her part, barely managed to suppress a smile behind a scowl for the language "from gaining the Minister's seat, right? Well then, it's easier than it looks, if you think about it" Her glance rested on Harry, and one on one, everyone looked at him, something that worried him.

"Something tells me I'm not going to like this solution, right, Daphne?" Daphne giggled at that "Bullseye, my dear Harry!" and giggled even more when Harry blushed like a tomato. Draco looked at her, a bit shocked. "Since when do you, the Ice Queen of Slytherin, _giggle?"_ Daphne mock-glared at him, to the amusement of everyone around them, even though Harry's blush hadn't subsided from her earlier comment. "Shut up, Draco! Anyway, what I was saying is…" she pointed at Harry. "Only _you_ can stop her, Harry!"

"Me?" A flabbergasted Harry asked to no one in particular. "What am I supposed to do against that toad face?" Daphne rolled her eyes at his cluelessness. "That's easy, support Shacklebolt against her!" Harry was horrified at the prospect of having anything to do with politics and looked around the Room of Requirement for help; but Hermione seemed to think hard about this, only nodding to herself sometimes, Draco was sporting a wide grin and voiced his approval, and Luna gave an affirmative nod and a reassuring smile to ease his worry. What disturbed him, though, was Ron's reaction.

The redhead was livid, to say the least. His face was a new shade of red, and he was trembling from fury. "That's ridiculous! Mate, you can't listen to her!" He yelled, looking at Daphne with disgust. Harry calmly replied, looking at his friend with restrained rage: "Why shouldn't I? Have you got any better ideas?" Ron stopped, a bit unsure, but then he started talking again: "I haven't got anything, fine, but don't listen to her! She's using you to reach a position of power in the Ministry thanks to your help! You can't do this, you can't accept a snake's help, she and Malfoy will sell you to whoever is in charge with a charge for corruption or something when you will be of no use to them anymore! Listen to me, I'm your best mate!"

That did it. Harry's rage, slowly growing under the stupid words of his thickheaded friend, broke out at his self-definition of best mate. "Oh, yeah? My best mate? Where were you then, when your _bitch _of a sister betrayed me with Neville? I'll tell you where you were, you were snogging with Hermione here" He pointed the girl in question, who was shaking with sobs and had tears running freely down her face "without even thinking where I was! And _now, _when Daphne probably had the best possible idea to stop whatever Umbridge's plans are" Daphne beamed at hearing this "you start badmouthing her even if she did nothing to you! Ron, I don't know what's gotten into you! Are you _really_ my best mate?"

At that, Ron pointed his wand to Daphne: "Release him from the Imperius, now! Or you'll regret this, because I'm sure it wasn't really Harry who insulted my sister and doubted my friendship!" Daphne and Hermione gasped at his implication, and Hermione tried to calm her boyfriend by putting a hand on his shoulder. It didn't work, so Draco took out his own wand, only to receive an Impedimenta from Ron: "Stop right there, you ferret! Your personal whore is going to pay for what she did to Harry!" Harry made to take his own wand, but a cry of "Petrificus Totalus!" sent Ron on the ground, stiff as a board, his eyes wide open. Hermione immediately rushed to his side to help him, but Daphne stopped her before she actually could do anything. Harry noticed the attack came from his left, even though Daphne and Draco, during the attack, were on his right side, while Hermione was behind Ron. Which only left…

"Luna?" Hermione called from Ron's side. Harry blinked, clearly not expecting this. When he turned around, though, he remained shocked at what he saw.

Luna looked like she was about to kill Ron: her grey eyes, usually without focus, were cold and intimidating, with a murderous twinkle, and she was shaking with rage; her wand was also trembling in her hand, and a light at the tip indicated another spell ready to be fired at the redhead. Harry tried to approach her: "Luna, calm down now, there is no need for that…" When he got near her, Harry noticed she was biting her lip so much it was about to bleed, and there were unshed tears in the corners of her eyes. He acted on instinct and hugged her, surprising everyone in the room, including himself.

Luna tried to resist at first, but then she stopped and returned the hug, shaking with sobs and muttering something Harry did not understand; only the words "Bitch", "Betray" and "Bastard" were loud and clear enough to be heard. "What was that, Luna? I couldn't quite hear you" Harry said, looking her in the eyes and smiling what he hoped was a reassuring smile, that changed into a frown when she did not return it. "I said that Ginny IS a bitch for what she did; she betrayed my trust, she _knew _I fancied _him_! And that, that… Bastard!" she pointed at Ron "He tried to defend her! Why? WHY? She doesn't deserve anything!" She had resumed crying by now, and Harry continued hugging her, patting her in the back, while trying to digest the fact he acted like an ass without even thinking about it.

Because he… Well, with a little help from Hermione, at least, had, the year before, understood Luna fancied Neville; he wasn't so sure about him returning the feeling, though. But that didn't excuse him; he ignored her feelings on the matter, and so he felt guilty for that.

"I'm sorry" he said out of the blue, earning puzzled looks from everyone in the room "I should have known I wasn't the only one who suffered because of …" He never managed to complete his sentence, because a slap in the neck stopped him. "Ow! What the…" he released Luna and turned around, only to find himself face to face with Daphne. "You _really_ are an idiot! You're asking for forgiveness when you're a victim of that girl yourself! If _anyone _should be sorry for what happened it should be _her, _not_ you_!" The green-eyed boy was about to respond, when Luna's voice behind him confirmed what the Slytherin girl had said. "She's right, Harry, you're not at fault, trust me!" Harry nodded, without looking at her, because he was mesmerized by Daphne's ice blue eyes. 'So pretty…' he shook himself to stop this thought, at least for now.

An angry muffled cry resonated around the room, and everyone turned to look at Ron, still Petrified on the floor. Harry freed him, and the very same moment he got up, he charged straight at Luna. Before he could ram her, though, ropes appeared and bound him; only this time it was a crying Hermione who had blocked him, leaving everyone stunned, Ron included. "What are you doing, Hermione? Are you being Imperioused too? Or… Oh, I get it! You're in love with Harry, right? You used me to get near him! Wait until I free myself from this and you'll pay! How could you do this? It's ALL YOUR FAULT!" He yelled the last part at the two Slytherins, but Draco got bored of his accusations and Silenced him with a flick of his wand.

Harry then moved his now former friend to face him with another flick of his wand and warned him: "Ronald Weasley, the very same moment you curse or attack one of the people in this room, your life won't be worth a Knut, is that clear?" He pointed the Elder Wand, much to everyone's shock, to Ron's neck, and smirked in satisfaction at his fear. "Good, now change your mind about my friends and your attitude before even trying to speak to me, is THAT clear?" Ron gulped and nodded, and then his body was freed from the ropes and thrown out of the Room of Requirement; the door disappeared in the wall after his rather sudden exit.

The master of the Elder Wand then turned to his friend Hermione to give her a piece of his mind about what Tonks and Lupin had said about her and Ron, but she was crying her eyes out on _Draco's_ shoulder of all people, with a series of yelled "I'm sorry", muffled from his shirt. He resolved to talk to her about this later, and then grinned at Draco's embarrassed, red face, before feeling two kisses, one on each cheek, from the other two witches in the room; this action caused him to blush even more than Draco, earning him a victorious smirk from the blonde boy. The two giggled before beaming at him.

"Thanks for what you did" came from Luna and "You were awesome there, Harry! You taught him a lesson!" came at the same time from Daphne, making Harry laugh. But then what happened with Ron fully sank in, and he dropped himself on a sofa, his face in his hands, feeling despair and emptiness.

Luna and Daphne, worried about his reaction, immediately sat on each side of the boy and tried to comfort him, Luna by embracing him, and Daphne by rubbing circles with her hand on his back. It worked; he seemed to return to normal, even though his eyes were still dull. "First Ginny, and now Ron… Why? Have I really won this war?" The other two stayed silent, not knowing what to say, and exchanging a worried glance above his shoulders.

**Hogwarts, 7****TH**** floor**

Meanwhile, Ron was out of the Room, trying to enter again. 'I have to save Harry and my Hermione from those snakes! Let me enter!' he thought, but after half an hour without any success, he gave up, not knowing what to do and feeling hopeless.

'What can I do, what can I do! Those snakes will carry out their plan if I don't stop them and free Harry and Hermione!' He then had an idea. 'I have to send a letter! Harry, Hermione, I'll save you, it's a promise!' He then ran to the Owlery, hoping the owls didn't run away because of the battle.

**Ministry of Magic, London**

**Minister Undersecretary Personal Office**

Dolores Umbridge was a very lucky witch; or, at least, that's what she thought when she finished the letter arrived just a moment ago.

That bad-written piece of parchment had just informed her that Harry Potter, with some of his friends, was working against her run for the post of Minister of Magic, trying to support Shacklebolt's more moderate lines.

Granted, in that letter there were also some hints about the boy being influenced from Lucius' junior and another girl, but she knew better; while a Malfoy could very well be responsible for this, after what Lucius did for years before being reported as dead, Dolores Umbridge knew that Harry Potter had no respect for rules, and consequently for someone like her who _enforced _rules, in addition to his personal hate of her persona.

She thought for a moment; the next move was up to her, so she needed to think everything through. It was like a chess game: a wrong move now and everything could be lost, and she wasn't ready to lose any time soon. But the moves she could execute were very few.

There was no way she could attack the Slayer of You-Know-Who personally, especially not in that moment, when his fame was at the peak. So she needed something that could hinder his plans…

Then, a realization. She took a piece of parchment lying near her, scribbled a note, and sent it somewhere in the Ministry. Then, she settled herself comfortably on her armchair, and with a wicked grin, she said to herself "Oh yeah, very lucky indeed" before helping herself to a shot of Firewhiskey.

**Ministry of Magic, London**

**Department of Mysteries, Secret Room**

The silver-haired young man on the bed jumped up when a note reached him when he was about to sleep after his training. Recognizing the handwriting, though, he went from pissed to gleeful, knowing it was probably an order from 'above'. He had a thirst for bloodshed from a few days, and he _needed _to kill someone.

When he read the note, he prepared himself, took his sword and got out of the room, almost running, the piece of parchment slowly falling to the floor. It read:

_Arthas, change of plans. He must die. NOW._

and then it burst into flames.

**A/N:** Sorry about this A/N at the end, but quick question: Harry/Daphne, Harry/Luna or Harry/Daphne/Luna? Your opinions through PM and reviews, if you wish!


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